Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

The Barlow Collection

A select catalogue of the Barlow collection of Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades by the University of Sussex (published Sussex, 2006).

The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

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Mirror with the moon goddess Chang E

  • loan
  • Literature notes

    The decoration on this mirror represents wishes of long life; the various motifs are mostly connected with the moon. The female figure represents Chang E, the moon goddess, who is said to have stolen the elixir of immortality from her husband and to have fled with it to the moon. There she is believed to have been turned into a toad. The ‘jade hare’ is also said to live in the moon, where it grinds the herb of immortality, or else cassia twigs or bark, in his mortar. The cassia or cinnamon tree grows in the courtyard of the moon palace and symbolizes great age. The tortoise is equally representing longevity.

    The mirror is heavily cast, of barbed octafoil outline, with a slightly convex reflecting side and raised decoration on the reverse. A central pierced boss with a honeycomb pattern is shaped as a tortoise’s carapace, the animal’s small head, limbs and tail being represented in low relief. Surrounding the boss is a female figure floating in mid-air, dressed in loose robes with long fluttering scarves, her hair draped in a high chignon, her left hand holding a tablet inscribed da ji (‘great good fortune’), her right hand a potted plant, probably with a cassia twig; further, a hare below a cloud, next to an over-sized mortar and pestle; a stylized pond with the character shui (‘water’) above it; a toad, again below a cloud; and a cassia tree. The rim is decorated with four different insects approaching flowers alternating with cloud-like motifs. The piece has an overall silvery surface with patches of green patina.
  • Details

    Associated place
    Asia China (place of creation)
    Date
    8th century AD (AD 701 - 800)
    Tang Dynasty (AD 618 - 907)
    Material and technique
    bronze
    Dimensions
    1.5 cm sight size (height)
    18.7 cm (diameter)
    Material index
    Technique index
    formed cast
    Object type index
    No. of items
    1
    Credit line
    Lent by the Sir Alan Barlow Collection Trust.
    Accession no.
    LI1301.17
  • Further reading

    University of Sussex, and Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Barlow Collection, supervised by Regina Krahl, Maurice Howard, and Aiden Leeves (Sussex: University of Sussex, 2006), no. B19

Location

    • currently in research collection

Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.

 

Publications online

  • The Barlow Collection by the University of Sussex

    The Barlow Collection

    The decoration on this mirror represents wishes of long life; the various motifs are mostly connected with the moon. The female figure represents Chang E, the moon goddess, who is said to have stolen the elixir of immortality from her husband and to have fled with it to the moon. There she is believed to have been turned into a toad. The ‘jade hare’ is also said to live in the moon, where it grinds the herb of immortality, or else cassia twigs or bark, in his mortar. The cassia or cinnamon tree grows in the courtyard of the moon palace and symbolizes great age. The tortoise is equally representing longevity.

    The mirror is heavily cast, of barbed octafoil outline, with a slightly convex reflecting side and raised decoration on the reverse. A central pierced boss with a honeycomb pattern is shaped as a tortoise’s carapace, the animal’s small head, limbs and tail being represented in low relief. Surrounding the boss is a female figure floating in mid-air, dressed in loose robes with long fluttering scarves, her hair draped in a high chignon, her left hand holding a tablet inscribed da ji (‘great good fortune’), her right hand a potted plant, probably with a cassia twig; further, a hare below a cloud, next to an over-sized mortar and pestle; a stylized pond with the character shui (‘water’) above it; a toad, again below a cloud; and a cassia tree. The rim is decorated with four different insects approaching flowers alternating with cloud-like motifs. The piece has an overall silvery surface with patches of green patina.
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Object information may not accurately reflect the actual contents of the original publication, since our online objects contain current information held in our collections database. Click on 'buy this publication' to purchase printed versions of our online publications, where available, or contact the Jameel Study Centre to arrange access to books on our collections that are now out of print.

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